Planners Still Bypass Route To Relieve Apopka

August 4, 2002|By Anthony Colarossi, Sentinel Staff Writer

APOPKA -- Commuters welcomed last week's opening of the long-awaited interchange at U.S. Highway 441 and State Road 436, a project already fulfilling its promise to shuffle cars and trucks more smoothly through the busy intersection.

Along with the opening of State Road 429 two years ago, the interchange and continuing road-widening work on S.R. 436 are the most significant transportation improvements that fast-growing Apopka has seen in years.

But the area's most talked-about road project -- the one meant to convert Apopka's downtown back into a viable business district instead of a high-speed zone -- is still years from reality.

Commuters, politicians and most traffic experts agree the recent projects won't achieve what the 11-mile-long Apopka bypass would accomplish.

"Getting through downtown Apopka, you still have four lanes in a constrained corridor," said Steve Homan with the state Department of Transportation. "It [the interchange] does nothing to relieve downtown Apopka."

Hilary Cook, an Apopka-area resident for 16 years, knows this all too well. She avoids Apopka's main thoroughfare -- the part of U.S. 441 also known as Main Street -- whenever she can.

"[U.S.] 441 has gone from no traffic to just bumper-to-bumper in the morning," Cook said. "I drive to Orlando quite often, and it's a nightmare. I think the bypass is the best immediate solution."

County Commissioner Bob Sindler, who represents the area, calls the bypass one of the region's most vital transportation projects that has never been built.

"I'm glad to see the others getting done, but it doesn't diminish the need for the Apopka bypass one bit," Sindler said. "It ought to be a top priority."

The need to relieve traffic through Apopka was first noticed in the 1970s, when Apopka Mayor John Land started promoting the project.

By the early 1990s the bypass was still being discussed as a concept and had an estimated cost of $42 million, according to newspaper accounts.

Since then, Apopka has grown into Orange County's second-largest city. Just as important, points north and west in Lake County also have developed as bedroom communities, further taxing four-lane U.S. 441.

Now, DOT traffic counts show more than 40,500 vehicles a day crawling through downtown Apopka headed toward the just-opened interchange. Backers say the Apopka bypass is the only feasible way to relieve that bottleneck.

BYPASS WOULD FOLLOW KEENE

As its name suggests, the road would take commuters off U.S. 441 north and west of the city, cut a path south of downtown -- closely following Keene Road much of the way -- and then hook up with the Maitland Boulevard extension well south and east of Apopka.

Traffic heading north and west could use the route to avoid downtown Apopka.

The proposed bypass has been the subject of public meetings and the core issue of local campaigns. Still, after more than a decade of discussions and planning, the road only exists on paper and in election promises.

Sindler said it's not for lack of trying. With Apopka in its title, he said, the road is often seen as having only local benefits.

"We need to get this road. It's important for a lot of different reasons," Sindler said. "If we don't get this right of way soon, this may get away from us."

Jay Davoll, Apopka's city engineer, argues that the bypass has regional significance.

"As this west side grows, I think the need is being shown there needs to be a new facility out this way to help traffic flow," he said.

As sections of Apopka and northwest Orange develop, land acquisitions needed to build the road get much more expensive. Over the years, the road's price tag has jumped. It would cost about $145 million to complete today, according to DOT estimates.

Homan of the DOT said the project simply hasn't gained the momentum it needs to get funding.

"As long as it is a non-toll facility, you cannot program for something you can't pay for," Homan said. "Clearly, you've got a problem through downtown Apopka. But there's no easy solution, and every solution is expensive."

TOLL ROAD CONSIDERED

Converting the project into a limited-access toll road is being considered.

Connected to S.R. 429, the bypass would link the Western Expressway to Interstate 4 via the Maitland Boulevard extension.

Bypass supporters say this would, in essence, complete the coveted "beltway" around Orlando's west side, albeit in a jagged and less encompassing way than planners have envisioned.

Steve Pustelnyk, spokesman for the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, said the connection would not only complete the belt but also channel traffic onto an already congested section of I-4.

A connection to I-4 much farther north is preferred.

Still, the Expressway Authority is looking at how it might take over what has traditionally been a DOT project. A decision could come within six months to a year.

Cursory studies show the bypass would be feasible as a toll road with some outside assistance, Pustelnyk said.

LIMITED ACCESS EXPENSIVE

Making it a toll road, though, would bump the cost up to more than $200 million, according to expressway authority estimates. That's because of the bridges and other crossings needed to limit the access.

The authority does not intend to abandon its planned northwest expansion of S.R. 429 in order to refocus on the Apopka bypass, as some have suggested.

"We look at it [the bypass] as a piece of the whole puzzle up there," Pustelnyk said. "But this project will not come at the expense of other projects we're studying. There are no tradeoffs here."